Something to celebrate: 2009 Equal Pay Day

Thursday

Apr 30, 2009 at 12:01 AM

Tuesday, April 28, marked Equal Pay Day, and 2009 logged a major step forward in the issue of pay equity in the workplace. President Barack Obama launched this auspicious advance for equal pay by signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act as the first he signed into law after taking office in January.

Tuesday, April 28, marked Equal Pay Day, and 2009 logged a major step forward in the issue of pay equity in the workplace. President Barack Obama launched this auspicious advance for equal pay by signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act as the first he signed into law after taking office in January.

Lilly Ledbetter, remember, worked at a Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. plant in Alabama for 19 years before learning that she was making $6,500 less a year than the lowest-paid man who had the same job.

The bill in Ledbetter's name boosts a woman's ability to bring pay discrimination lawsuits. The Fair Pay Restoration Act is important because it overrules a bad Supreme Court decision in the Ledbetter case.

The Supreme Court had ruled that Ledbetter had no case because she had not brought her legal action within 180 days from the time her pay disparity was first set. She had filed, the judges ruled 5-4, too late. But how could Ledbetter have known? Company officials kept the pay inequity under wraps; she found out about it more than a decade later from an anonymous tipster.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's rebuttal of the decision from the bench pointed out that the majority of the Court either did not understand sex discrimination in the workplace, or did not care.

The Ledbetter Fair Pay Act put into law what earlier courts had previously ruled, that for workers who are unfairly underpaid, each separate paycheck represents a new offense. That gives women 180 days to sue from the day they discover discrimination, not from the time the discrimination began, when they would not necessarily be aware of it.

Statistics continue to show women earning less than men in many areas. This does not always reflect discrimination, though, because, after all, far more women than men take time off work to raise children or care for a sick relative. That puts them behind on the pay scale as they may lose training opportunities, tenure, seniority and other opportunities for pay raises. Unfortunate, but certainly not outright discrimination.

The still relatively new Ledbetter law deserves its special "Equal Pay Day" celebration, and recognition year round. This important law gives hope — and legal recourse — to working people who believe their employer has discriminated against them. April 28 properly recognizes the importance of paying all workers the same for the same work.